Metal shovel handle



Feb. 2, 1932. C, BUTTS 1,843,120

METAL SHOVEL HANDLE Filed Jan. 23, 1950 {cl/iff] Il *w Patented' Feb. 2, 1932 Nrrsn sra'rss PATENT OFFICE CORNELIUS L. BUTTS, OF PIQUA, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE WOOD SHOVEL AND TOOL COMPANY, OF PIQ'UA, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO METAL SI-IOVEL HANDLE Application led January 23, 1930. Serial No. 422,924.

This invention relates to metal handles of the type adapted to be attached to the Wooden stale of a shovelspade, scoop, or the like.

The present great and growing demand for a satisfactory metal shovel handle is due in a large measure to the increasing scarcity, and the consequent increasing cost, of Wood suitable for making handles for shovels. A considerably smaller piece of vvood suffices to make a stale for a shovel Where a metal handle is used, than Where the stale and handle are made of a single piece of Wood.

Another reason for the demand is that metal handles can be used to salvage shovels having broken Wooden handles. The break frequently occurs at the point Where the Wooden handle joins the stale, and by cutting off the broken part and attaching a metal handle the shovel is made serviceable again.

l.Vhile handles of the type referred to are termed metal handles, they are in fact metal in part only, the hand-piece, or grip, being non-metallic, usually Wood. The principal object of my invention is to provide means for securing the grip to the metal arms of the handle, so that it cannot be loosened by use and especially by the abuse to which shovel handles are often subjected. Another object is to prevent the grip rotating.

I shall now describe my invention, With the assistance of the accompanying drawings, in Which,

Fig. 1 is an elevational vievsr of my improved handle, With portions broken away to disclose certain features of its construction' Fig. 2 is a View of the handle looking down at the grip, portions being broken away to disclose certain details of construction, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmental sectional view of the arm on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

rl`he embodiment oi by invention here shovvn comprises a body formed from a single piece or blank of sheet metal, and a wooden grip. The blank includes a portion which is bent to form a stale-socket 10, the edges of the blank abutting, or nearly so, at 11. By this arrangement the size of the socket is rendered slightly adjustable, so it can be made to snugly tit the stale 12, even if the latter varies slightly from the contemplated diameter. The socket is Secured to the stale by rivets 13 in the usual Way.

Arms lll extend from the upper edge or" the stale-socket, which arms terminate in grip-sockets 15. While these sockets may be of some other shape, I prefer to make them substantially hemi-spherical. The ends of the Wooden grip are also heini-spherical. The diameter of the grip is preferably equal to that of the exterior of the socket, and to avoid a gap or other undesirable irregularity, a shoulder 16 is formed at the juncture of the grip and its hemi-spherical eX- tension, which shoulder abuts the edge of the socket, as is shown in Fig. 1. rllhe grip and sockets are bound together With a metal band 17. This band is semi-circular in crosssection, its flat side being outward, and in order to make the fiat side flush with the grip, longitudinally disposed grooves 18 are formed in opposite sides of the grip. Grooves are also formed in the grip-sockets in the same plane with the grooves in the grip. Thus a continuous groove is formed for the reception of the band. The grooves in the sockets are merely depressions in the otherwise spherical Walls, as is clearly shown at the right hand end of the grip in Fig. 1. These depressions appear on the inside of the sockets in the form of beads 19. Grooves are formed in the spherical ends ot the grip to receive these beads 19. rihe beads lying in these grooves eiectually prevent the grip turning in the sockets. The band also serves to prevent the grip turning.

rlhe band 17 may be endless, but I prefer to use a strip of half-round metal bent to the proper shape and having its ends bent inward and tucked into a hole in the bottom of the groove in one of the grip-sockets. This is shown in Fig. 2, Where the bead 19 is perforated and the ends QO-QO of the strip of metal forming the band lie in the perforation. To insure the ends 20 not slipping out of the perforation the ends are made considerably longer than the thickness of the metal. To accommodate this excess length a hole 21 is bored in the end of the grip. In the beginning the band must be considerably over-size in order to get it into place. It is then contracted mechanically, i. e., swaged, to cause it to lie in the grooves and bind the parts tightly together. In doing this I use a method similar to that shown and described in the patent of Francis C. Brandenburg, No. 1,727,333. It is unnecessary, therefore, to describe the method here. It suilices to say that the band is contracted to a sufficient degree to put it in tension, thereby holding thc sockets firmly in place on the ends of the grip. In another Patent, No. 1,727 ,364, Mr. Brandenburg has disclosed the use of a nonendless-band like that shown here, with its` ends tucked into a metal cap covering the end of the wooden arm of a split-D handle.

Handles made Vof single pieces of sheet metal are not new and I make no claim to this feature per se. It is for this-reason that I have not described the general construction of my handle very particularly. It suices to say that I prefer, in the construction of the arms,VV to turn the edges over toward the inside of the arm, to form a structure substantially as is shown in Fig. 3, which is a cross-section of the arm at the point 3-3 in Fig. 1. It is not essential, however, that my handle be made of sheet metal; itmay be made of malleable iron, or by the drop forging process. Both of these being well known in the art it is not necessary to more than suggest such modification. Nor is it necessary to make the metal part of the handle in a single piece; each arm may extend from one-half of a stalesocket, thefrivets 13 being depended upon tok unite the parts of the stale-socket.

It will be noticed that each socket 15 extends some distance beyond the'outside of the arm 14 that carries it. Laborers Working with shovels having these handles have found that these extensions are useful, in that they afford something to glrasp with the lirst finger when, as sometimes appens, they wish to place an arm 14 between the first and secondk fingers.

Instead of securing the grip with a metal band it may be secured with a rivet which passes longitudinally through the grip and is headed down on the outside of each socket. Rivets of this kind are old and so well known that it is unnecessary to illustrate the structure here. When the rivet is used the grooves in the sides of the grip are omitted, and the beads 19, cooperating with the grooves in the ends of the grip, prevent rotation of the grip. The grooves in the outside of the grip-sockets are not objectionable, nor will they interfere with heading down the rivets. Other str uctural variations may also be possible while remaining within the ambit of the appended claims.

` I claim as 'my invention l 1. A metal shovel handle comprising a stale-socket, a pair of arms "extending therefrom, each arm terminating in a substantially hemispherical grip socket, each socket having a bead on the inside extending to the edges thereof, a non-metallic grip confined between said arms, having portions which fit in the sockets and being provided with grooves that embrace said beads, and meansfor drawing the grip-sockets toward each other, whereby to clamp the grip between them. A

2. A metal shovel handle comprising a stale-socket, a pair of arms extending therefrom, each arm terminating in a substantially hemispherical grip socket, each socket having a bead on the inside extending to the edges thereof, anon-metallic grip confined between said arms, having portions which lit in the sockets and being provided with grooves that embrace said beads, anda metal band encompassingv the sockets and grip, binding the sockets and grip together.'

3; A metal shovel handle comprising a stale-socket, a pair'of arms extending therefrom, each arm terminating in a substantially hemispherical grip socket, a non-metallic grip confined between said sockets. having portions which fit in said sockets, the grip having longitudinally disposed grooves and the sockets having grooves in the same plane therewith, in which grooves a metal band is conflned, whereby to bind the sockets and grip together, the grooves in the sockets constituting depressions which forni beads on theinside of the sockets that extend to the edges of the sockets, said beads lying in grooves formed in the `enclosed parts ofthe grip.

CORNELIS L. BUTTS; 

